William bunting



(No Model.) W. BUNTING, Jr. BATH TUB LEG.

No. 507,259. Patented Oct. 24, 1893.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM BUNTING, JR, OF FLUSHING, ASSIGNOR TO THE MEYER-SNIFFEN COMPANY,LIMITED, on NEW YORK, N. Y.

BATH-TUB LEG.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 507,259, dated October24, 1893.

Application filed March 13 1893.

.To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM BUNTING, J r., a citizen of the UnitedStates, and a resident of Flushing, in the county of Queens and State ofNew York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Bath-TubLegs, &c., of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to the iron legs or supports of bath tubs,lavatori'es, and the like, which are objectionable as heretoforeconstructed. Bath rooms, wash rooms, 850., are now frequently paved orcovered with marble, porcelain or tiling of some sort and the iron legsof the tubs or other apparatus rest or bear directly thereupon. This isobjectionable because in washing or scrubbing the floor, or perhaps insome other way, the water will contact with the bases of the legs andcause them to rust and ultimately stain or discolor the floor.

My invention has for its main object to overcome this difficulty orobjection and consists in providing the iron leg or support with anon-corrodible ball or other shaped basepiece to bear directly upon thefloor and thus obviate the rusting and the consequent discolorationreferred to. And my invention has for a further object to provide simpleand effective means for attaching or fitting the ball, lowest part orbase-piece to the prop, leg or support, and to this end consists in thefeatures of construction and combinations of devices hereinafter morefully described and particularly set forth in the appended claims.

In theaccompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of an ironbath tub leg or support embodying myimprovements. Fig. 2 is a bottomplan view omitting the upper portion of the casting, and shown partly insection. Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2, illustrating the mode ofattachment and detachment of the ball. Fig. 4 is an elevation showinganother form of base.

In the several views the same part will be found designated by the samenumeral of reference.

1 represents a cast-iron bath tub leg, constructed at its upper end, at2, to connect with and support one of the corners of a porce-' lain orother bath tub. The said iron leg at its lower portion is fashioned intoclaws,

Serial No. 465,711- (No model.)

of which thereare preferably four, as 3, 4, 5 and 6.

7 represents a non-corrodible ball or base made of china or glass,preferably, andadapted to be fitted to'said leg in the embrace of theclaws thereof.

The claws 3, 4 and 5 are of equal length, while the claw 6 is shorter.All of the claws are bent or curved and their inner surfaces are formedapproximately on the lines of a sphere, to receive and retain theglobular base 7.

Referring to Fig. 1, it will be observed that the points of the clawsallextend below the horizontal center line of the ball, and since theyconform substantially to the curvature of the ball, the latter cannot bedetached except by special manipulation. Inasmuch as the claws are allcast in the positions or form shown, the ball must be peculiarlyconstructed to enable its insertion within the embrace of the claws, inthe manner shown at Figs. 1 and 2, and to this end I make a notch ordepression 8, preferably of triangular form in the ball, whichco-operates with either of the claws adjacent to the shorter claw 6 insuch a manner as to permit. the readyinsertion (or removal) of the ball.

At Fig. 3, I have illustrated the method of applying and detaching theball, the view serving equally well for both purposes. When the ball isto be inserted the notch or cutaway is brought opposite the point of theclaw 3, which slightly enters the same, on a movement of the ball, thusbringing the center of the ball toward the claw 3 and the periphery ofthe ball opposite the notch away from the point of the claw 5, whereuponthe ball may enter between the claws. Upon entrance of the ball withinthe grasp of the claws, the ball may be turned to a position such thatthe notch stands out of register with the claws 3 and 5, and in suchposition the ball cannot be detached. If it should be desired toremovethe ball the notch may be turned to align with either of the claw points3 or 5 and slipped out. The ball, however, when once placed in positionwill rarely, if ever, be required to be removed, and for this reason andto further prevent anyaccidental detachment and to improve theappearance,

I prefer to cement in or otherwise fasten to the notch, a plug or filler9. It will be understood however, that this last mentioned device is notnecessary to prevent casual detachment of the ball and may be omitted ifdesired insofar as the main features of my invention are concerned.

It will be observed on measurement that a straight line between thepoints of the claws 3 and 5 is less in length than the diameter of theball and hence that the ball can neither go in nor come out unless thecut-away is opposite one of the claws 3 or 5. It will also be observedthat by reason of the presence of the shorter claw 6, the distancebetween its point and that of the diametrically opposite one 4 is suchrelatively to the diameter of the ball that when the ball is manipulatedso that the ends of the claws 3 and 5 offer no obstruction to the ballthe latter may be readily put in and taken out without hinderance by theclaws 4 and 6.

Referring to Fig. 4, the ball is shown provided with a flat or pedestalbase. Other forms may of course be used, and various other changes indesign and detail construction may likewise be made without departingfrom the gist of my invention.

It will of course be understood that in place of claws, fingers or-othergrasping or analogous devices may be employed, and although I preferfour as shown, I do not limit myself thereto.

Some of my improvements may be embodiedin brass legs or legs other thaniron, and in such case the ball may be of any substance or material.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination with a leg or support provided at its lower end witha series of claws or fingers, of a notched or cut away base in the graspof said claws or fingers.

2. An iron leg or support adapted for bath tubs the. provided at itslower end with a series of claws or fingers, and a spherical notched orcut away non-corrodible base in the grasp of said claws or fingers.

3. The combination with an iron leg or support having a series of clawsat its lower end, one claw being shorter than the others, of a sphericalbase-piece provided with a notch or cut-away, substantially as and forthe purposes set forth.

4. The combination with a leg or support provided at its lower end witha series of rigid and inflexible claws or fingers, of a sphericalbase-piece having an irregularity on its surface, whereby the base-piececan be inserted and removed only when the said surface-irregularity isturned to or held in apredetermined or particular position with respectto the points of the claws or fingers, substantially as set forth.

5. The combination with a leg or support provided at its lower end withclaws or fingers, one of which is shorter than the others, of anon-corrodible ball provided with a notch or cut-away, the constructionand arrangement being such that the distance between at least twoopposite claws at their points is less than the diameter or axis of theball.

6. The combination with a leg or support provided at its lower end withfour claws, 3, 4, 5 and 6, the claws 3 and 5, and i and 6 beingrespectively diametrically opposite each other, and the claw 6 beingshorter than the claw 4, of a ball or spherical base-piece provided witha notch or cut-away.

7. The combination with a leg or support provided at its lower end witha series of claws or fingers, of a ball or spherical basepiece providedwith a notch and adapted for insertion in substantially the mannerdescribed, and a plug or filler for-said notch.

8. A ball or spherical base-piece adapted for insertion within the clawsor fingers of a leg or support and provided with a peripheral notch orcut-away.

Signed at New York city, in the county of New York and State of NewYork, this 10th day of March, A. D. 1893.

WILLIAM BUN TING, JR.

Witnesses:

J ACOB FELBEL, IDA MACDONALD.

